You would think that my downtime out here would be pretty quiet and uneventful given that I've only been here 2 weeks and neither of my roommates have moved in yet. While I might normally be content to stay in and relax, I've become enamored with everything out here. Akin to my "culture shock" in Palo Alto, I want to take in as much as I can. Unlike last summer, however, I have no idea how long I will be out here. It will certainly be longer than the 3-month internship, and likely at least a year so that I don't back out of my apartment lease. I have been ball-parking my time here at 3-5 years which has to do with career decisions as well as personal reasons. There's nothing that says I won't stay longer than that, especially considering I've been told many times that it's very easy to become accustomed to life and work out here. But I figure that's a good point to reevaluate my options and interests. I anticipate a lot will happen between now and then, though.
Anyway, on to what I've actually been up to. Work this week was really interesting. First off, I still don't have that much explicit work to do as I'm still in the ramping-up phase. I think that's a good thing for now, since every day I still feel like I'm learning a lot and getting the lay of the land. I still felt plenty busy, though. One of the best parts of my week was yet another orientation.
I feel I should preface this with some more information about exactly what I'm doing. First and foremost, I work at Microsoft. Within the entire company, there are about 7 different divisions. These include Windows, Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB - basically Xbox), and Microsoft Office Division (MOD, where I am). Within each division, there are even more groups. I really only know about MOD, so I'll confine my discussions to that. I work in the Apple Productivity and Experiences (APEX) group within MOD.
So the New Employee Orientation (NEO) I went to on my first day was for all new employees regardless of what division you're in, or even if you're an engineer. That was all well and good, but it didn't really drill down that much. That wasn't its purpose, though, and I did get a decent overview of various aspects about the company as a whole. This week, I have the opportunity to attend an orientation specifically for new hires within MOD. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but definitely wanted to learn as much as I could in my first few weeks on the job. I was pleasantly surprised - I got to learn all about the history of Office, how it's changed over the years, where my group and I fit within the context of everything, etc. It was really crazy to see the very first version of Microsoft Word - a command line tool with no graphical interface that was still revolutionary for its time because its main competitor was the typewriter. The graphical version was released for Apple's Macintosh before Windows, in fact 5 years earlier. A lot of people are unaware of the close relationship between Microsoft and Apple, although it may not be as close now as it was in the late 80s. I find the history of this industry incredibly interesting, and not just because it has given me the opportunity for the career I want. I highly recommend people go learn about it. You can watch Pirates of Silicon Valley for a dramatized viewing of how events transpired, and of course the de facto Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson for a more personal account. And lastly there's the combined interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the All Things D conference in 2007, the first part of which is below, and the entire thing of about 90 minutes here.
Hang on, I'm off on a tangent again. So the Office orientation was really cool, and I learned a lot. The other thing that I learned a lot from was making various decisions with my parents about some of the benefits I receive at work. I had to learn about the different health care plans, which was right for me, what (if anything) I should contribute to my Health Savings Account, etc. Additionally, what is a pre-tax vs. Roth 401(k), how much should I contribute to that, and so on. It was pretty big stuff, and something I knew extremely little about, so I was glad to have their help.
For Saturday, I planned to attend a picnic in Bellevue. The local chapter of 1 of the professional societies I belong to was sponsoring it, and I figured if nothing else, it was free food1 2. So I planned the various bus routes I would take and headed out to get there. As I approached a stop where I would transfer busses, I saw a bunch of orange traffic signs that could not be good. Essentially, I learned that the 520 floating bridge (the one I take to get to and from work) was closed for the weekend for construction. Unfortunately, that is how the bus I planned to take would get across the lake, and so there was no service for that route this weekend. Feeling a little flustered, I tried to think of an easy way around it, but the only conclusion I came to was that I'd have to figure out how to take another bus that crosses the 90 bridge further South. I had already missed half the event by the time I figured out what to do, so I just ended up not going. I was pretty bummed about it, partly because of the free food and partly because of the opportunity to meet some people out here. I had other things to do, though.
My roommates have been sending themselves packages here, and it's worked out pretty well for the most part. One package from the USPS needed to be picked up at the local office, though, so I figured out how to take the bus there. This time the busses worked just fine, but my destination was nowhere to be found. The little packing slip I had listed the address, and I was staring at a building at that address that looked nothing like a post office. After some exploring the area, I asked some people walking by if there was in fact a post office around, and they said there was not. The nearest one was a couple miles North, and I figured that would be a decent place to start. After spending enough time navigating the busses, I knew off the top of my head how to get there, and so I did. While on the bus, I realized my mistake: the building numbers on the street I was on effectively reset at a certain point. Essentially, I had gone really far away when in fact that post office was only a couple blocks from my apartment. In the end, I got the package (which was heavier than I anticipated) and walked back to my apartment.
I spent some time downtown throughout the weekend as well, seeing what was out there. I saw the new Zach Galifianakis movie, The Campaign which was alright. Getting to and from downtown is really easy on the bus, and there is always plenty to do there. I also finally went to the gym for the first time since moving out, and it was not fun. There's a fitness center in my apartment complex, so at least I didn't have far to go.
After getting back late on Saturday night, I went up to the roof deck of my building for a chance to see the Perseid Meteor Shower which is one of the most prominent and easily viewed meteor showers. I was a little to close to the light pollution of Seattle, so I didn't quite see the 100 meteors per hour that NASA predicted, but I did get to see at least a few. Some of them were faint against the surrounding light, and I'm sure I missed some just by blinking. I tried to take some long exposure pictures with my camera, but again the light was not in my advantage. Next time I'll have to go to some remote location, of which there is no shortage here.
I picked up some more furnishings as well from people that are moving out of my building next week. It was mostly small things for the most part, stuff like garbage bins, a fruit bowl, laundry basket, etc. It's surprising how much those things make a difference in the feel of the place, though. There's also another comfy chair for the living room so that my desk chair can now reclaim its rightful place. And some floor lamps help a LOT since there are only a couple overhead lights in the apartment.
Well, I'm hungry now, and I want a sandwich. Time to go to Subway just a couple stories down. No real plans for the rest of the day - just gonna enjoy my new 55" plasma TV and get ready for this week. My first roommate, Calvin, arrives on Tuesday so I'll be going into work a little late that day, but things will be a lot different after that.
1. Still in that college mindset ↩
2. This one is just for my friend Ian. See what I did with these footnotes? ↩
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